"Will you cut the bullshit and get Jack?" LaToya demanded.
"Miss Lafayette." Carlos's eyes glimmered as he considered LaToya. "Aren't you a little wildcat?"
Her brown eyes narrowed. "Sucker, I've got claws you don't want to see."
Carlos chuckled. "I'll tell Jack you stopped by. He has your number?"
"We need to see him now," Lara insisted. "I realize he sleeps during the day, but would you please wake him?"
"Easier said than done," Carlos muttered. "I'm afraid he's not really here. Not in the metaphysical sense."
LaToya jutted out a hip and planted a hand on it. "Where is he then? In the freaking metaphysical sense?"
"I've often wondered that myself." Carlos frowned. "Where exactly do they go when they're… not here?"
Lara exchanged a look with her roommate. Carlos sounded like he was one taco short of a combination plate. "Are you saying you don't know where Jack is?"
"Not exactly. But if you'll return about eight-thirty, he could see you then."
"We'll do that," LaToya said.
"Excellent." Carlos smiled. "It's been a pleasure to meet you, ladies. Ciao." The door closed.
Lara heard the sound of deadbolts being shot into place. "That was interesting."
"I'll say." LaToya descended the steps to the sidewalk. "Between Ian, Jack, and Carlos, I can't decide which one is the hunkiest."
Jack, definitely. Lara checked her watch. "Let's grab some supper."
They walked toward Central Park, then turned south. As they passed by the Plaza, Lara remembered that the hotel had a business center inside. She and LaToya shared a pizza at a deli on Sixth Avenue, then returned to the Plaza, where the staff was happy to cooperate with New York's finest. They sat side by side in front of computers in the business center.
"I'll check out the Draganesti dude." LaToya typed on her keyboard.
Lara Googled Giacomo di Venezia, but all the links referred to Giacomo Casanova, the famous womanizer. That wasn't any help, although it did elicit a memory. When Lara had questioned Jack at the church, he'd mentioned his father had seduced hundreds of women, and that his mother had been the last conquest. What a strange coincidence.
Was Jack like his father? Did he make a sport of seducing women? Somehow, Lara had felt that his attraction to her was genuine. But wasn't that how these cads operated? They made all the women they seduced think they were special. And Lara had been fooled before.
It would really hurt to find out he was a womanizing pig. Unfortunately, it could be even worse. He might be a criminal.
No! She refused to believe Jack had anything to do with the missing girl. Lara didn't know him that well, but she couldn't believe he would ever abuse a woman. He'd saved her life. He was a protector of women, not an abuser.
"Well, Roman Draganesti sounds like a genius," LaToya said. "He figured out how to clone blood. According to this article, his synthetic blood is responsible for saving thousands of lives every year."
"Synthetic blood?" Lara thought back. "I was given some of that when I was in the hospital."
"Then this Roman dude saved you, too," LaToya continued. "He manufactures the stuff at Romatech Industries. He's got several factories around the country, but the biggest one is in White Plains, New York."
"That's close to us." Lara did a search on Romatech and located a news article that described a bombing at the facility last December. A car had exploded in the parking lot, but no one had been seriously injured. This was just the last of several attempts to bomb the place. "It looks like Romatech has some serious enemies."
"Maybe they're doing some kind of funky research that's upsetting people," LaToya suggested. "You know, stem-cell research or genetic engineering."
"They obviously need good security." Lara wondered if this was the security work Jack was doing. "I might check this place out." Thank God she was off work for a few more days.
"I'm supposed to work tomorrow, but I could call in sick and go with you," LaToya offered.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry." Lara checked her watch. "It's a little after eight. Let's go talk to Jack."
"Is something wrong?" Jack had just teleported into the kitchen at the townhouse. He'd been in the fifth-floor office, drinking his breakfast and catching up on e-mail when Carlos called on the intercom to request his presence downstairs.
"You bet something's wrong." Phineas sat at the kitchen table, wearing the official khaki pants and navy Polo shirt of MacKay Security and Investigation. "Carlos has gone crazy. I think he's been sniffing some catnip."
Carlos shook his head as he opened the refrigerator. He retrieved a bottle of water and twisted off the top. "Some cops came by while you two were…. napping."
"And Carlos invited them back!" Phineas thumped a fist on the kitchen table, shaking his half-empty glass of blood. "They'll be here in fifteen minutes."
Jack frowned. "What do the police want?"
"Me, probably." Phineas gulped down the last of his breakfast, then slammed the glass on the table. "I–I have an outstanding warrant."
"Sheesh, Phineas." Carlos grimaced. "You should have warned me. How can I protect you if I don't know?"
As their daytime guard, it was Carlos Panterra's job to keep them safe during their death-sleep. Jack had been impressed so far by the Brazilian's vigilance. Like many of the mortal day guards who worked for MacKay Security and Investigation, Carlos had special skills. And a special secret. He kept quiet about the Vamps, and they kept quiet about his shapeshifting ability.
Phineas's shoulders slumped. "I didn't want Angus to know. He believed in me enough to give me a job. I really like being one of the good guys."
"Don't worry. Angus is very happy with you," Jack assured him, then turned to Carlos. "Were the police looking for Phineas?"
"No, they didn't even mention him. He should be safe." Carlos sipped some water.
Phineas exhaled in relief. "Then I'm outta here."
"That's a shame." Carlos sat beside him at the table. "They were very pretty ladies."
Jack's heart speeded up. "The police were women?" Was Lara looking for him?
"Pretty ladies?" Phineas smoothed back his short hair. "This sounds like a job for the Love Doctor."
"Was Lara here?" Jack strode toward the table. "I mean Officer Boucher?"
"Yes. She was looking for you. And Officer Lafayette was with her." Carlos smiled at Phineas. "She's a lovely black woman."
"Hot damn!" Phineas's face lit up, then crumbled. "Why would a pretty young thing join the po-po?"
"They're clever, too," Carlos continued. "Somehow they figured out where Jack's living."
"That's the po-po for you, man. They'll track your ass down!" Phineas took his empty glass and blood bottle to the sink and rinsed them out.
Jack sat at the table as he thought back. He'd been careful not to tell Lara where he lived or worked. The car! That's why Lara's roommate had been waiting on the street. "They must have run the plates on Roman's car."
Carlos nodded. "They're smart."
"Relentless." Phineas jammed his empty glass and bottle in the dishwasher. "You'd better not talk to them, man. They'll drag you down to the precinct, where they have those interrogation rooms with one-way glass, and when you don't show up in the mirror, your ass will be cooked."
"I'll be careful." Jack glanced at the clock above the sink. They would be here in eight minutes. "Phineas, go on to work without me. Tell Connor I'll be there shortly."
"Okay, but I can tell you he's not going to like this." Phineas frowned as his body wavered and disappeared.
Jack sighed. Connor had strongly suggested he avoid seeing Lara again. Jack had tried to forget her, but it was impossible. Someone at Romatech would walk by wearing a blue shirt that reminded him of the color of her eyes. Or he would hear someone laugh and find himself longing to hear the sound of Lara's laughter. Whenever he showered, he recalled the feel of her hands on his skin.